taking pleasure in all things food

Dinner Rolls

Delicate, Soft Dinner Rolls

Serving Dinner Rolls at the beginning of a dinner party just adds that special little touch. These rolls take a while to rise but they are easy enough to put together. The result: gorgeous looking, fluffy, fragrant little buns.

Ingredients(from the blog ‘Craftinomicon’)12 small rolls (enough for about 4 as a bite before a dinner – but be prepared: they go fast….)120ml (1/2 cup) milk
1 ¼ tsp dry yeast
25 (1/8 cup) sugar
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature (it should be really soft. If it is cold you could also melt your butter in a saucepan)
1 egg
215g (1 ¼ cups) flour (plus a little extra for your counter tops when kneading)
oil

Recipe

In a small saucepan bring the milk to body temperature.

Add yeast, sugar salt. Mix and let stand for 5 minutes.

In a small dish briefly loosen the egg. Pour ½ into a large bowl. Reserve the other half.

Add butter and 1/3 of the flour to the egg. Mix until no lumps remain.

Then add in the rest of your flour and mix until it has come together.

Remove onto a floured surface and knead by hand for a couple minutes, if your dough is too sticky you can add a bit more flour. (Do not add too much extra flour, this is a rather soft dough).

Grease a bowl with a little oil. Place the dough inside. Cover with a towel and allow to rise for 1 hour, or until it has doubled in size. ( I typically do this inside a cold oven).

Preheat oven to 220C 425F degrees.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Form the dough into 12 balls. Place the balls on the tray. They should be touching each other, forming a rectangle.

Allow the rolls to rise for 15 minutes.

Optional: Brush with the reserved egg. (I always seem to forget this step – so I have decided it is optional).